Winch construction



July 6, 1943. c. B. CURTISS WINCH CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 11, 1940 July 6, 1943- c. B. CURTISS WINCH CONSTRUCTION Filed July 11, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR (b r /ead lu /1J5.

ATTQRN EY Patented July 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINCH CONSTRUCTION Charles B. Curtiss, Bay City, Mich.

Application July 11, 1940, Serial No. 344,831

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in winch construction, and more particularly to a welded winch structure adaptable for mounting on automotive trucks and the like.

One of the prime objects of the invention is to design a winch structure of simple and practical construction which will be light in weight, of maximum strength, which can be easily and economically manufactured and assembled, and which will not suddenly rupture even when excessively loaded.

Another object is to design a winch structure made up of plate and structural members, which can be readily fabricated and welded with a minimum of labor and equipment.

A further object is to design a fabricated drum made up of differing classes of stock materials, and provide tubular end extensions so mounted and welded in position as to maintain the several parts in true and exact alignment.

A still further object is to provide a winch having welded plate bearin supports that require a minimum of machining, and which can be readily assembled and welded in position.

A further object still is to provide a winch having a simple and inexpensive worm case and a worm wheel center formed of inexpensive materials where stresses are light, and of strong, heat treated alloy materials only in such places as are subjected to excessive strains, said case and worm wheel center being composed of few parts, which can be readily assembled in a fixture, and which also requires a minimum of machining.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings. and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions and minor details of construction, without departing from the spirit, or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side, elevational, part sectional view showing my improved winch construction.

Fig, 2 is a longitudinal, sectional view showing the drum and end extensions in assembled relation.

Fig. 3 is an end view thereof.

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view of the assembled winch.

Fig. 5 is a detailed, side elevational view of the main frame.

Fig. 6 is an end view thereof.

Fig. 7 is a sectional, elevational view through one of the bearing supports.

Fig. 8 is an end elevational view thereof.

Fig. 9 is a part sectional, side elevational view of the worm wheel center.

Fig. 10 is an end elevational view thereof.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged view showing the inanner of connectingthe worm wheel center and the shaft.

Where winches are mounted on motor trucks and on moving structures, many problems not present in a rigid, stationary, mountin are encountered. For example, when the motor truck is on an uneven footing, there is the possibility of the weaving of the chassis causing twisting of the winch structure. Furthermore, excess driving power is always available and operators-are ofttimes tempted, depending on circumstances and conditions, to handleunreasonable overloads. Other operators sometimes make short pulls oif the side of the motor vehicle, setting up excessive end thrust on the drum, and it is therefore advantageous and desirable to design a welded Winch structure which will have maximum strength, which will be light in weight, and which will have excess strength in all parts supporting the rope load, thus preventing complete failure as is apt to occur when the rope loads are supported by main parts formed of cast materials.

The general operation of the winch is substantially the same as described in Patent No. 1,952,- 658, granted to me March 27, 1934, the present application being directed to a welded construction which makes possible a winch of high quality and maximum strength at minimum cost.

The winch as shown in the attached drawings is designed for motor truck mounting and consists of a base 13, a welded drum assembly C, and a worm case assembly D, said base comprising a pair of spaced apart angles l2 connected by plates [3 which span said angles and are welded thereto. End frames E are welded to these angles l2 in alignment with the plates 13, and comprise web plates and gussets M'and l5 respectively, which form the end supports for the drum assembly C, which gussets and end supports make angle and T-sections to carry the drum load down to the base angles l2.

Steel plate bearing supports I6 are bolted to the end frames E by means of bolt I! and are designed to pillow bronze spherical drum supporting bushings 18 which are mounted in a poured metal bearing [9. These spherical bushings compensate for any weave in the vehicle chassis (not shown) and prevent binding, and it will be obvious that all operating wear will come on the cylindrical bore of the bushings l8, said bushings being held against rotation by the dowel which also serves to carry lubrication thereto.

The drum assembly C is made up of a piece of stock pipe 2| with a spaced apart flange and brake, drum 22 and 23 respectively, welded thereon to form the winding drum, the flange 22 being formed of flat plate with gussets 24 welded thereto to oppose end thrusts, and a protecting flange 25 is welded to the brake drum to prevent damage to the brake drum, an opening 26 being provided in the web of said brake drum and in the flange to facilitate anchoring of the hoist rope or cable 27 as usual.

End extensions F are provided in the opposite ends of the drum pipe 2|, each extension comprising a heat treated alloy steel tube 28 having a relatively short tube 29 welded thereon at a point where the annealing of the heat treated alloy steel tube by the weld will not result in lessened winch strength. A flat disc or flange 36 is welded on said tube 29, and a flange 3| is welded on the inner end of the tube 28. The assembled extensions are then welded, by jig, into the drum pipe 2|, openings 32 being provided in the drum 2| in circumferential alignment with the flange 3| to facilitate welding the extension in position, and the disc 3|] is welded to the end of the drum pipe 2| so that a rigid structure is secured. These discs 3|! and 3| stiffen and reinforce the pipe against any possibility of collapse, provide proper support for the end extensions, and also carry the torque from the worm wheel clutch to the drum.

A bushing 33 is provided adjacent the outer end of the splined extension, and a shaft 34 is jour naled therein in the usual manner.

The worm case 35 is also of all-welded construction to give maximum strength with least weight, the outer shell is of rolled and formed plate, and the bottom 36 is of the same material bent in the shape of a wide U. A plate 31 forms one side wall of the worm case and is provided with a centrally disposed opening 38 in which a short tube 39 is welded, and ribs 49 are welded to the inner face of the plate 31 to reinforce and take the side load of the worm wheel.

Horizontally aligned openings 4| are provided in the lower end of the case, and tubular sections 42 are inserted in said openings and are welded in position in the usual manner, these sections serving to support the raceways of bearings 43 in which the worm 44 is journaled. These tubular sections 42, together with the shell 35, the bottom 36, and the torque bar support lugs 45, are all welded together in a locating fixture.

The worm wheel center W comprises a sleeve 46 which slides over the end of the shaft 34, the web 41 of the worm wheel being welded on said sleeve, and a cylindrical section 48 is welded thereto centering the bronze rim of the toothed section 49 of the worm wheel, and bolts 50 serve to secure this toothed section to the web, a plate 5| forming a closure for the open end of the cylindrical section which is also welded to the sleeve.

This worm wheel assembly is inserted through the opening 52 provided in the outer end wall of the worm case, and a cover 53 forms a closure for said opening, this cover being formed similar to the end wall 31 and having a centrally disposed tube 54 welded therein, together with radiating ribs 55 welded to the inner face thereof, said cover being secured in position by means of bolts 56 in the conventional manner.

The ends of the sleeve 46 are splined as t 51 as is also the end 58 of one of the end extensions 28, and a longitudinally shiftable broached clutch ring 59 is provided for engaging or disengaging the members 28 and 46, spaced rings 60 being welded on the clutch ring 59, and between which a shifting fork 6| acts and it will be obvious that the clutch ring 59 can be shifted to position to drivingly engage the worm wheel center and drum, or to disengage the worm wheel from the drum. Short steel bushings 62 are provided in the sleeve 46 of the worm wheel center to center the main shaft 34 and to line the two splines.

The ends of the shaft 34 are splined as at 64 and a short broached and splined spacer ring 65 fits thereon, the inside diameter being broached to fit the shaft 54, the outer periphery of said ring being splined as at 68, and a broached ring 61 fits over and drivingly connects the splined ring 66 and the splined end of the worm wheel center for driving the shaft 34 and the niggerhead 68 which is mounted on the opposite end thereof, a disc 69 being secured to the end of the shaft 34 to limit endwise movement thereof.

The niggerhead 68 is also an all-welded construction and is mounted on the opposite extension tube 28, a short, broached, and splined spacer ring 10 being mounted on the splined end of the shaft 34, the outer periphery of said ring being splined as at H and engages the broached end 12 of the niggerhead 68 so that the nigger-head is driven when the worm wheel is actuated.

A brake band 13 is provided on the brake drum 25 as usual, and suitable means (not shown) are provided for the operation thereof.

A sprocket 14 is mounted on the end of the worm shaft 44 and is driven from a power takeoff on the vehicle (not shown), or from any other convenient source of power.

From the foregoing description, it will be obvious that I have perfected a very simple, and substantial, all-welded winch, which can be easily and economically manufactured and assembled, and which combines high quality and high strength at low cost.

What I claim is:

1. In a winch drum, a tubular body; end flanges welded on the exterior of said body adjacent to the ends of the latter; reinforcing webs welded on said flanges and on said body and extending in the direction of the longitudinal length thereof between the ends of said body and the flanges; shaft-receiving tubular extensions extending into the ends of said body and arranged axially of the latter; and means securing the extensions on the interior of said body for accurately centering and rigidly fixing the extensions to the body and for reinforcing the latter adjacent to the flanges.

2. In a winch drum, a tubular body; end flanges welded on the exterior of said body adjacent to the ends of the latter; reinforcing webs welded on said flanges and on said body and extending in the direction of the longitudinal length thereof between the ends of said body an the flanges; shaft-receiving tubular extensions extending into the ends of said body and arranged axially of the latter; and spaced disks welded on each extension and on the interior of said body for rigidly fixing the extensions to the body.

3. In a winch drum, a tubular body; end flanges welded on the exterior of said body adjacent to the ends of the latter; reinforcing webs welded on said flanges and on said body and extending welded units, the main body comprising a standard pipe having end flanges welded thereon adjacent to and spaced from the ends of the pipe to form a winding drum, a brake drum welded on one of said flanges, an individual shaft-receiving end assembly mounted in each end of the pipe, each assembly comprising a tubular section having spaced apart disks welded thereon and on the body, with one end of each tubular 10 section projecting beyond the end of said pipe.

CHARLES B. CURTISS. 

